A warning before I start, this is going to be long, please bare with me and read till the end if you can. Sorry if it causes offence, I don't mean to, there are just a couple of things I'm struggling to understand.
I am British and lived in England until last July when I moved here on exchange. My experience of social issues is very different than the ones I have both learned about and experienced here. I am white, with English, Irish and Welsh heritage. So many of these issues haven't affected me in the same way, but my parents have always taught me to be aware of them.
Mainly the social issues that surround indignity in this country is something that is very new to me, it is not a racial issue that is present in British society, nor are the wide variety of social discourses that come along with this. Growing up, we were never taught about colonisation, I know England once had an Empire, but we never really taught were it was or what countries were colonised (or at least I wasn't). I also had very little awareness of Indigenous people in New Zealand or Australia before I did research prior to coming to the country last year. Which is bad I know, our government appears unwilling to teach us about the not so wonderful part England, and by extension Britain as a whole, played in world history.
But to my main point, there are things that I hope people who have grown up here and who have a better understanding of this would be willing to explain.
Differences in education between Maori and the more 'Eurocentric' education is something I have never experienced, differences in education is not really present in British society. I know about Tuakana, I would just like to know why this bridge is needed. What are the differences in education?
I have traveled throughout the country and have found it hard to gain a real understanding of the Maori culture, as a visiter to this country I have witnessed the culture either being used as consumer product or only vaguely mentioned, and I would really like to have a better understanding of the Maori culture.
Another quick thing though, I met a girl in the residence I am in who used the fact that 'biologically' she is part Maori (I think it was one great grandparent or something) to change her entrance requirements for the University (or something similar) I know she does not identify as Maori and went through the 'Eurocentric' education system in New Zealand but was still able to use her biology to use this system because she didn't get as good grades as she wanted at school, and she appears around of this. Why?
In relation to this I have struggled to understand what Pakeha and Pakeha-ness really is. I know what the 'dictionary meaning' is and it's links to whiteness, white privilege and colonialism but that's not always what it really means. I think mainly, learning about this issue through this course I'm struggling to understand the aversion to the word Pakeha. If no one is 100% sure what it means than is it not possible to define it in a way that is personal to you. Isn't accepting you're race and the implications that has in, not just New Zealand society but World society, a good step forward. From an outsiders point of view (and by all means ignore it if you'd like), accepting 'Pakeha' as an identifier also means accepting the history that comes with being a Euro-New Zealander, which I guess isn't great. But to move forward, don't we need to accept that past and use it to help bring us together. I know my heritage comes with a lot of baggage, and British history comes with a lot of pain and a lot of war, but I've never felt ashamed. I want to use that history to find a way to do better by the many people hurt by those actions and that history.
Again I sorry if I have caused offence to anyone, and if it got this completely wrong please don't get angry with me. I would just like help understanding from people who have a better idea of what these things mean, both historically and in relation to modern society.
Thank you for your patience and help.
Trust me, you aren't alone in this; I have lived in NZ for 7 years and am originally from the UK, and there are still some concepts that I find hard to accept. Personally I don't feel like I have a connection with the term Pakeha as I did not grow up here and don't feel like it really applies. I still very much see myself as English (except in the rugby where I must support Wales at my Dad's insistence) and therefore the connotations that the term just aren't meaningful to me. I certainly don't deny the terrible acts Britain committed as an empire, every day more stories come out of colonized areas such as Kenya concerning genocidal activities which have been hushed up. Yet as you said, not growing up with an indigenous culture still makes it a concept I have different views on to some people because I have experience of living in a society without it. I think that it's very important that NZ preserves and promotes Maori culture, but its continuing commodification which goes unprotested continues to frustrate me (Adidas trying to trademark the haka? Come on!
ReplyDeleteIn my school, Tuakana/Teina education was more of a buddy/project system in which Maori and Pasifika students could learn and explore things their way. It's about strategic essentialism, allowing students to identify with their culture, and have the self-autonomy to learn things their way. It's not so much an education system that everyone has to take like NCEA, but it offers a support system for students to learn. As for the girl who 'went around the system' I think you're talking about Maori scholarships. Because she was legally Maori, she would have qualified with the requirements to gain a Maori scholarship to go into uni or a specific subject. These are equity projects meant to remedy the past injustices between Pakeha and Maori. So in law or med, there will be a small percentage of 'places' reserved for Maori and other ethnic minorities. Students will often complain about the people who only got in because of their 'places'. This overlooks the structural and institutional barriers that affect Maori and Pasifika (and not Pakeha) and the fact that Maori and Pasifika still need to get good grades to get those places. I'm not really an expert, but I hope that clears up some of the confusion about the education system!
ReplyDeleteIt does help thank you :) I think the scholarships are a great thing to have if used properly and given to people who need them, but not when people take advantage like she did.
DeleteI think it's always really important for people to learn things in an environment where they are comfortable and know they can progress and learn in their own way.
It is a fair point to raise, this Tuakana programme seems to privilege certain ethnic groups. But this is how I was told to see it! If you were to do a survey in the University of Auckland and asked students where they went to high school. Most ethnic groups which make up the majority of the number of students come from a background of good education from good schools. If we were to talk about certain ethnic groups that make up the ethnic minorities. They would be from low Socio economic communities who would not really had any chance at a good education with low decile schools. So it isn't really about being lucky, but giving those the opportunities extra support to bring their grades up with the rest of the fortunate peers who already have a good head start or better grasp on the content being taught.
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